Slumber party

When we put them to bed they were in their own beds. When I went to check on them I found them here. I thought it was cute, took a picture, moved them back into their beds.(Now when I say I moved them back into their beds I mean B moved them back into their beds. ;)) The next night I went to check on them and found them sleeping on the floor again. When I ask why they sleep on the floor, they tell me that they slept in their beds. Since I move them, they don't remember that they fell asleep on the floor. As long as they sleep I don't really care, I just can't imagine that it would be very comfortable. But then again I loved to sleep on the floor when I was little and as I type this, B is on the floor in our room sleeping. So maybe their just born this way.

Let the games begin!

As of late, I have really been wanting to do wheelbarrow races. I didn't know if K was strong enough to hold himself up with his arms and walk. Clearly I was wrong. It was so fun! We did it for quite a while. K wanted to switch me and hold my legs up, alas, that was not to be. We raced to the sliding glass door. They were able to go much faster than I thought they would. It was awesome!

Next we wanted to have a jumping contest. You may be thinking that they changed their clothes. They said they wanted to get into their jammies before we continued. Anyway it was originally a contest to see who could jump the farthest, but soon turned into who could jump the highest. I think K got so pretty good vertical lift here.

Here is M taking her turn. I don't remember how many times she wanted to do it, but it was a whole lot! She wanted a picture taken each time too. She would look at the picture, laugh and then say,"It's my turn again!"

I thought that I got pretty high. I'm no pole vaulter or anything like that. but I felt like I was on top of the world looking down. Ok maybe not, but I didn't think it was too bad. But then I saw B jump.


Holy smokes! Talk about pretty impressive vertical lift! The light on the top of his head is because he's only a few inches away from the light. Sweet picture right?!

Happy Father's Day!

I am so thankful that these three people are part of my life! I love that we get to celebrate Father's day. B is the best dad in the whole world! He loves to play with these two little people. He spent most of the afternoon today playing house. There are few things in life worse than playing house, but he did it anyway. Then he battled both of them in a nail biting sword fight. I love to watch him interact with them. He is so gentle with them. I tease him because he's almost non-human because he doesn't get annoyed or upset with them. He just loves them. He is such an example to me and I love him. Besides the BYU tie that he got he wanted no bake cookies. I wanted to try something new.

Here it is! A BYU no bake cookie. I don't know what's wrong with me, but I can't make these cookies set up. No bake cookies. They sound idiot proof, but I have proved that theory wrong. Although they didn't set up and had to be eaten with a spoon B said that they still tasted good so that's a relief! Happy Father's Day baby! I love you and am so thankful that you're the reason we celebrate today!

She did what?!

I went up to the temple a couple of weeks ago. (three hours away) B was so awesome that even though he was trying to study for finals, he let me go. He is such a stallion! Anyway I called when I got up there to see how everything was going. B told me they were good. He had taken M and K swimming and M had done a flip off the side of the pool. I was a little worried, but B said that he taught her how to do it so that she was safe. Here's proof that she can do it and have fun. I still can't watch it without my heart skipping a beat, but she does awesome! Here is the initial take off.
Here is the flip

And here she is after she has safely swam to the side and popped up. It looks awesome and I'm really proud of her, it just makes my heart flutter.

Utah!

This past week we were able to go to Utah. It was awesome! It for sure wasn't long enough and we weren't able to see all the people that we should have, for that we are sorry. But to be able to spend so much time with family was awesome! We are so thankful that we were able to go. At first we were freezing! Playing in the mountains was so fun. Besides missing family, we miss the mountains the most. We love them and hope to be able to live close to them again some day.

We thought the alligators here were bad. They aren't as scary as the ones in Utah. K had a near death experience. Thankfully I was close by and I was able to rescue him from the jaws of death.

The Orem Summerfest happened while we were there. That has been a favorite of B and mine since high school. We couldn't not go. The parade and fireworks are what we love the most. B and I love the fireworks. M likes them just not the sound and K doesn't like the sound or the actual fireworks. At least he got to see a firetruck in the parade so the whole night wasn't a waste.

All too soon it was time to go home. I cried like we were leaving for the first time again. I was doing alright and actually keeping the tears at bay until I saw my niece slump and start to cry. Oh man my heart was ripped out of my chest and I couldn't keep the flood gates up. I cried and cried and cried. I got it back together until M said,"I don't want to go home. I want to stay in Utah." Even writing it makes my eyes fill with tears. We loved the family time and the memories that we made.

We were all worn out. This was the scene all the way home. To our families we say thank you! Thank you for letting us stay with you. Thank you for letting us hang out with you and for helping us make so many good memories. We love you and miss you so much!

The trouble with bad eyes

K had an eye dr appointment the other day. To say it was a sad day is an understatement. I don't know why K dislikes the eye dr so much. He's been going since he was 9 months old. So you would think that it is just a normal part of life for him and that he would be calm and collected through the whole thing. Not so. He FREAKED out. He screamed like he was being beaten. Not that he has ever been beaten so I know what that cry sounds like, I just imagine it to sound that awful. Anyway, when the dr walked in, K shut his eyes and refused to open them. His eyes were shut so tightly that he had wrinkles all over his face. He was also screaming so loud that he couldn't hear me talking to him and he was on my lap. The dr was really patient and he just sat and waited for him to calm down. Now when I say calm down I mean crying at a normal volume and his eyes were open. The Dr looked at his eyes and said that he has a lazy eye that isn't getting better with just glasses. So, he needs to wear a patch. As soon as he said the word patch a flood of emotion came over me. I wore a patch, I hated my patch. I remember the smell of a patch. I remember that it made my eye so hot and itchy. I remember that it gave me headache because I had to try and see out of my left eye, which was my lazy eye. I remember feeling like everyone was looking at me with my patch on. A patch is awful awful awful on a good day. As we drove home from the eye dr I cried and cried because I felt so bad that he has to wear a patch. I tried to collect myself so that he wouldn't see me crying and cry himself. As I bent down to put the patch on his eye, I couldn't keep the flood gates in place. I cried and cried. I for sure cried harder than he did.







Clearly he wasn't too upset about the whole thing. Having a green patch with cars on it helps too. This isn't the first day he wore it either. The first day he wore one, he sat on the couch. He said he couldn't eat, play or read books because,"I can't see." That broke my heart. Getting the cute patches cost 9 cents more per patch than the ugly band aid ones that I had to wear. But B said that we could spend the extra money to get cute ones. K doesn't care what they look like, but it makes me feel better. He only has to wear it for two hours a day so that isn't bad, but I still feel bad that he has to wear one at all. Hopefully the patch will make it so he doesn't have to have the surgery to fix the lazy eye.

What child labor laws?

I. Love. This. Picture! Sometimes the dollar store is the best store in the world. We found these little aprons at the dollar store a long time ago. M has had hers in her dress up box and when she pulled it out today, K really wanted one too. Thankfully we had one for him.

I was totally pampered at a high end restaurant today. There were the cutest chefs there that I had ever seen. I got to get what ever I wanted. There was also an unlimited amount that I could eat. I had a LOT of mac and cheese. Sometimes it came with hot dogs in it and sometimes it didn't. I got scones, rolls, doughnuts, chocolate, celery with peanut butter and chocolate chips, pasta, banana bread, cookies, chocolate milk, juice and water.

They stayed busy all afternoon. Can you blame them? With the amount of food that I was consuming, it's a wonder that they were able to stop at all!

Good morning!

Round these parts in order to go running without melting into a puddle, I go at 6:30-6:45 in the A.M. Isn't this such a pretty picture?! This is the sun just starting to wake up.

This doesn't do the sun justice. In real life the sun was red. It looked so cool! The first time I saw it I thought that there must be a fire somewhere and that's why the sun was so red. But it is red like that every morning.

This one shows the red in the sun a little bit better. I wish that I had a really fancy camera so that you could see what I see, but sunrise pictures are still pretty cool.

On Guard!

M and K went to a birthday party a few weeks ago. It was a Star Wars party. They got these light sabers. That's what they're called right? Anyway, they are the best party favors we've ever gotten! They have brought hours of entertainment! Clearly not just for the children! I asked B if he would duel with me. I was laughing so hard I didn't stand a chance!

This picture fills me with so much happiness! Thanks for playing with me babe. I love you!

The newest member of our family!

I know that some of you may have freaked out by the title thinking that we had maybe gotten a baby. Unfortunately, no such luck. But on a brighter note, we have a pet. This is Chloe. I'm not making this up. Our children have named her, they talk to her. They ask where she is when they wake up or we come home from somewhere. When they can't see her buzzing around they start calling out for her,"Chloe, where are you?" B and I have no clue where they got the idea that she would make a good pet. I do have some thoughts on the matter, me have something to say?! Shocking I know, but here it goes

First, I CANNOT believe that I refer to a fly as a she. With that being said, she is the best pet in the world! We don't have to feed her, we don't have to clean up her poop. We don't have to take her on walks. Although it has been suggested that we tie a small piece of string around her neck so that she has the option of being walked.

Second, Some pets seem to never die. Take for example my older sister's goldfish. That thing was invincible! We had a nephew who, on more than one occasion, put the poor fish in his pocket. My sister never cleaned the bowl. So the poor thing lived in pond scum, literally. To try and teach her a lesson, my other sister took the bowl, scum and fish and hid it for a few days without food and it lived! It was amazing. I think it may still be alive. Anyway, that is a good example of a never ending pet. Not so with our little Chloe. We already know that her life span is brief! It's wonderful.

Third, More good news. We found out yesterday( Thanks to M)that Chloe's sister, Audrey has come to live with us. So when Chloe goes, Audrey will still be around to help us heal the loss. Yipee for pet flies!

You may be thinking that the heat is really getting to us and making us odd. That might be a little bit true, but if you're children are going to insist on getting a pet, a fly is the way to go!

*Chloe has passed since the original posting. May she rest in peace.

Here are some random ideas

The question that I am posing is this. What do you do with an hour and a half inside a state park with nothing to do and your keys locked inside your car courtesy of your three year old? Well, here are some ideas. I'm not saying that I'm speaking out of experience, these are just some random ideas. However, if that were ever really to happen to us, I think I would take these ideas to heart!

I think pulling out the camera and trying to make the best of the situation would be a great idea! I bet it would help if there was a wedding on the beach that day, so that you would be able to see the "Marry"(bride) as k puts it, or would, if he were in this scenario, as she walked down to the beach in her lovely gown beside her oh so happy dad and all her little bridesmaids following behind her.

Once you couldn't see the "Marry" anymore I think it would be a really great idea to go stand next to your car and take pictures of you doing pretend frowny faces. I love that K doesn't know how to do it and so he just filled his cheeks with air. I love that M looks really upset. We had to take quite a few of these pictures because we were laughing pretty hard at each other. In a good way of course!

When the fun of taking frowny face pictures wore off, you could just let your children climb on the trunk and lay on the window so they could see their own reflections.

Then just when you think you are going to be stuck in a state park all night because your keys are on the floor by the front seat, the park rangers,"are no longer allowed to provide that service. We used to be able to, but not any more, sorry." The police department has told you,"A state park isn't our jurisdiction, call the sheriff's department." The Sheriff's department said,"No, you can get a hold of a locksmith(even though you have already tried without success) here is his phone number." And that locksmith has told you,"To go that far, your lookin' at about $95, but I can if you want. You can call someone else(aka-it's Saturday and I don't want to. Who turns down making $95 for a three minute job?) You have finally gotten a hold of someone that has said,"I'll be there in 10 minutes" and that was 20 minutes ago. So you really think your going to have to brave sleeping in the wild, walking to church and showing up in your swimsuits. You see this white suv pull into the parking lot with bold lettering on the side telling you he is here to rescue you in your time of need. He floats angelically out of his vehicle, puts an airbag in your door frame, pumps in up, uses a device called a... wire coat hanger(if you say it with a french accent it definitely sounds like an important piece of equipment) and unlocks your door. Keep in mind that these are all ideas, just in case something like this were to ever really happen.

Could you do this when you were 5?

We went to the pool a couple weeks ago. There was a girl there doing handstands. M watched her for a little while and then she tried it. She figured it out pretty quick. The only thing I told her was to not kick her feet up so fast so that she wouldn't just flip over. I'm impressed. I don't think I could do this until I was like 17. Ok maybe not that old, but definitely not when I was 5! I'm so proud of you M!

"Let's jump!"

This afternoon as I was changing the washer and dryer, I heard M say to K,"Let's jump." As I walked through the livingroom to fold the clothes I saw them stacking the pillows. I told them that I didn't think it was a great idea because they could get hurt. Needless to say, they chose not to listen. I don't blame them, I remember standing on opposite ends of our livingroom, a kid on each end, with couch cushions in front of us and running full speed towards each other. This picture is so sweet! I love that we caught it on camera! I was trying to sneak taking pictures so they didn't think I was encouraging this kind of behavior! It was so awesome to watch! On the inside I was cheering and saying, "Yeah! That was awesome!"

Getting the pillows ready for another round.

K was either way short of the pillows or he would over shoot them. I was worried that he was going to smack on the tile that sits right underneath our rug. As plush as the rug looks, the tile is still really hard and really close to the surface. He didn't get hurt, at least not that he let on to. He was laughing almost the entire time. They had a lot of fun. Since I loved slamming into my siblings when I was little, I just let them play. By the end I couldn't help it, I was laughing too. It was so cool!

I kind of like him.

The other day while I was trying to send pictures to Costco, K climbed behind me so that he could look at the pictures too. As soon as he climbed behind me he said,"I will hold on to you so that I don't fall off." I love him!

I got dressed first. I promise I'm not the type that wants to match with my children. I do love these pictures. I love being a mom!

12 Years and counting!

It was 12 years ago today that B and I started going out, or dating, or became boyfriend/girlfriend. Whatever you want to call it. Some people in high school break up and then get back together. There was none of that. I have been lucky enough to be his only girlfriend. I love love love that B is the only boy that I have ever held hands with (too bad he can't say the same!) and ever kissed. I love that he is the only boyfriend that I've ever had. I am so blessed to have him in my life. He is my better half. I can't imagine life without him. I am so thankful that I got to marry my best friend. Sometimes I poke him just to make sure that he's real. I know that no one has a perfect relationship, but I truly believe that ours is pretty darn close. I love him more than he will ever know. B, I love you! I'll love you for ever, for always and no matter what!

Then-May 1999

Now. I love you baby!

Something's not right here...

Where are the children that belong to these articles of clothing you ask? I asked myself that same thing after I got out of the shower this morning. All I knew is that when I went into the shower, the children were fully clothed. When I got out I saw the clothes with no children in them. I found them in the living room eating a bag of wheat thins and playing memory in their undies. B and I don't really know where we have gone wrong. At least they were happy and were enjoying their snack!

Happy Easter!

I guess we should write happy Easter Eve since these were on Saturday. Our ward did an Easter egg hunt on Saturday morning. I wish that when we asked our children to smile, they didn't just plaster cheesy smiles on their faces. At least they aren't crying so that's good.

I was lucky to get a picture of M picking up an egg. As soon as they were told they could find the eggs M was off like a rocket! I felt so stupid running after her trying to get a picture. It wouldn't have been so bad if I had gotten a ton of pictures like I was trying to get. But no, I only got two pictures. With the way I was running you would have thought that I was trying to win a race. nope, just trying to get a picture.

K loved the Easter egg hunt. The only bummer besides the ants that had found the eggs before the kids was that when he opened his eggs, the only candy he got was lifesavers and two Tootsie rolls. He looked around at the candy that all the other kids got and then back at his basket and then back at the other kids baskets. Thankfully he loves Tootsie rolls and so he didn't care. He ate those and then threw the lifesavers away. He made out like a bandit at the one we did at home, that helped too.

"Wahoo!"

Have I ever mentioned that I love Target? I. Love. Target. It fills my heart with joy and thanksgiving! The other day when we were there, we found these awesome umbrellas in the dollar section. We snatched them up real quick so that we could play in the rain. M and K have been asking for umbrellas for awhile, but B and I haven't wanted to buy them for fear that they would just be ruined. Well, finding them for that price, we don't care if they get ruined. When M and K saw that it was raining today, they ran to the closet, opened the umbrellas and charged outside.

M just stood there listening to the rain hit the umbrella. She loved that she wasn't getting wet.

K loved to hold his and walk around.

K really wanted to switch umbrellas. Here they are discussing it. M told K that hers was pretty heavy, so it would probably be best if they didn't switch.





K agreed and they both decided that pacing back and forth was the greatest thing we did today with the exception of swimming this morning.

I love the trike

This picture is awesome for so many reasons. One of them is that he insists on wearing his hat backwards. We had to buy it because,"dreen is my favorite tolor." Another reason it's awesome is because he looks so cute on his trike. He likes to ride the trike as M rides her bike. The only problem is his speed. He likes to look at the ant hills, and there are a ton of those. He likes to stop and watch the cars go past. He has to stop and cover his face if a bug is flying too close. Sometimes he covers his face and still pedals, that has proven to be hazardous to his health.

I tried to get him to smile, but he was telling me about a car that had just passed and asking why it couldn't come on the path with us. He was both relieved and disappointed. "A dreen car on the path with us would be so cool, but then it might hit you and me and daddy and M and we would die."

She has been taught!

M can ride a bike without training wheels! It is so awesome to watch her do it. Now when I go running in the morning, instead of pushing both kids in the stroller; M rides her bike and I run next to her. Actually I run behind her because she can ride faster than I can run. Pathetic I know. In my defence, she can ride really fast!

Oh what do you do in the summertime?

I know it's not summertime, but it definitely feels like it. The other morning it was 90 degrees at 9:00 in the morning; so we spend a lot of our time at the pool. The other day we were there by 10:30. K and M love to use their floaties and jump off the side. You can't tell but he has a Cars swimsuit on, a Cars floaty ring and cars/trucks on his arm floaties. He just loves cars.

M jumping in off the side of the pool. (I attempted to get a picture of both of them jumping, but K jumped early. Obviously.) I'm sorry it's a little cloudy, I got water on the lens and it started to cloud. I guess when it says do not use in water, their serious.

We did go home to eat lunch and wash the pool water off of us. But when B got home from school he said that we should go swimming for Family Home Evening. So we went swimming again. Thankfully it is so blasted hot that going swimming twice in one day is nice. M has taught herself how to swim. She loves to swim under water because she's faster that way.

Another attempt at getting a picture of both M and K jumping off the side of the pool together. We took probably about ten and none of them were of them jumping at the same time. Oh well. I love this picture! I know that it looks like M is going to smack really hard and hurt herself, but she said it didn't hurt.

I love love love this picture! B was telling K that he was going to get him. B telling both M and K that is really the only way we can get a real smile out of them.